Jackson campaign misses another federal report deadline

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has missed another deadline to report his campaign finances.

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has missed another deadline to report his campaign finances.

Katherine SkibaTribune reporter

WASHINGTON — While former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. awaits sentencing for misusing about $750,000 in campaign funds, his political organization has received its third warning from the Federal Election Commission for failing to submit reports on its finances.

According to FEC records, the campaign has missed its last three report deadlines and has not filed a disclosure since December, a few weeks after Jackson resigned from office.

Prosecutors want Jackson to get four years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 14. The lack of FEC reports has left unanswered the question of whether Jackson is using leftover campaign money to pay his legal bills — which the FEC generally allows.

The FEC's warning letters have gone to Jackson's treasurer, Vickie Pasley, a Chicago attorney. "It is important that you file this report immediately," a commission official wrote her Friday when it sought financial information for this year's second quarter.

The FEC wrote Pasley in February to ask why the campaign had not filed a year-end report for 2012 and in May to ask why it skipped a first-quarter 2013 report. The letters cautioned that failure to file could result in a civil money penalty, audit or legal enforcement action.

Washington lawyer Brett Kappel, who specializes in campaign finance regulation and has no connection to the Jackson case, said he would be "extremely surprised" if the ex-congressman wasn't using his war chest to pay legal bills.

At the FEC, spokesman Christian Hilland said several advisory opinions from the FEC indicate that campaign dollars may be used to pay up to 100 percent of legal expenses related to campaign or officeholder activity.

Jackson, 48, has five lawyers — at least two working for free — and none responded this week when contacted by the Tribune. Nor did Pasley return calls for comment.

Earlier, Pasley told the FEC that Jackson's campaign had $105,703 on hand as of Nov. 26. She said his campaign raked in more than $1 million in contributions in the 2011-12 election cycle and that its spending had hit $1.1 million.